


Lost Chapters: Learn To Listen

by Firecracker_Newsie (Enjolras_The_Survivor)



Category: Newsies - All Media Types
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-05
Updated: 2021-01-18
Packaged: 2021-03-09 00:07:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 3,453
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27405520
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Enjolras_The_Survivor/pseuds/Firecracker_Newsie
Summary: A companion ficlet to Learn To Listen where I write things that didn't fit into the main fic, but I wanted you to see anyway.
Comments: 12
Kudos: 1





	1. Suggestions/Contents

Contents:

Ch2: Bolting

Ch3: Spot's backstory

Ch4: Felix's backstory

Ch5: How Albert met Spot

Ch6: Race's siblings

Ch7: Race's siblings Pt2

Ch8: The Chair Incident

Ch9: Angsty Spot (specific incidents from his backstory)

Ch10: Spot shares his recovery book with Mason

Ch11: Soundtracks for Spot, Race, Albert, and Elmer

Ch12: Martina and Siobhain

Suggestions are welcomed for other things you would like to see! I am happy to write almost anything provided it meets these conditions:

  * Teen/Gen rating
  * Fits in the L2L universe
  * No smut



That's it. Hopefully you enjoy this bonus ficlet!


	2. Bolting

I've been running from my problems as long as I can remember. It used to be a game: run from Race during a hide 'n' tag game (a weird crossover of hide'n'seek and tag that we used to play on the base), run from Mam as she tried to tickle me. Then it became harder, run from Snyder, run from the bullies who tried to beat me up. Always running, never still. Running round the track, running through different spellings of words in order to try and spell them correctly. Now, running is a last-ditch resort, like that time I ran to Medda's on my Mam's funeral day. Her 15th funeral day. And the time I nearly ran from the hospital, seeing Mason so broken, so desperately in need of a loving family. He was like me, hurting inside and outside, not believing that so much love was possible.


	3. Spot's backstory

Spot:

  * was born in Fort Polk's military hospital (Louisiana) before moving to Fort Riley (Kansas) when he was 6 months old.
  * was 28 weeks when he was born, and spent a few weeks in the NICU. He and Charlie shared an incubator.
  * learned to climb aged 22 months, and by age 2, had outgrown his crib.
  * is short for his age because of lack of space in utero (this is the same for Charlie)
  * lived on the same base as Race from age 6 months to 5 years. This was not the same base, but Martina (Race's eldest sister) and Siobhain (Spot's Mam) always managed to get moved to the same base.
  * has lived in 3 different countries: the USA (Fort Polk, Fort Riley), Germany (Kaiserslauten Military Community), Italy (Caserma Ederle).
  * doesn't like talking about the one time he had his 'own' room because it was in the detention center.
  * met Davey when he (Spot) returned to a Weisel Trust School after a two week suspension.



The order of all of Spot's houses (his age from time of arrival to moving is in brackets, reason for moving in _italics_ ) is this:

  1. Fort Polk, Louisiana (Birth to 6 months) _military transfer_
  2. Fort Riley, Kansas (6 months old to 2 years old) _military transfer_
  3. Kaiserslauten Military Community, Germany (2 years old to 4 years and 5 months old) _military transfer_
  4. Caserma Ederle, Italy (4 years and 5 months old to 6 years and 2 months old) _military transfer_
  5. Fort Riley, Kansas (6 years and 2 months old to 7 years old) _Siobhain was killed in action, and her second husband didn't want to take on the responsibility of raising children, so Spot and Charlie were taken into care._
  6. The Smith family (7 years old to 7 years 9 months old) _The Smiths had a baby and couldn't look after Spot and Charlie_
  7. The Powell family (7 years 9 months old to 8 years old) _Charlie's medical needs were too much to handle combined with Spot beginning to act out_
  8. The Refuge Group Home (8 years old to 11 years old) _Spot was correctly assumed to have graffitied a wall, and Snyder insisted he be legally punished for this._
  9. Detention Center for Juveniles (11 years old to 12 years old) _Spot's sentence was up_
  10. Medda's house (12 years old to 21 years old) _Spot wanted to move in with his boyfriends as they lived closer to college._
  11. His apartment that he shares with Albert, Elmer, Race, and Mason.



There's more to his story than what I've put here, so feel free to ask me anything about it and I will update!


	4. Felix's backstory

Facts about Felix:

  * He's very cheeky
  * He wants to be a professional roller derby player
  * He plays Pivot for his team
  * His skates are black with rainbow laces
  * He has never been in the hospital beyond waiting for Charlie to finish up
  * He gets mostly C grades in school apart from PE where he gets a B+.
  * His parents are still alive, but because his adoption is a closed adoption, he doesn't see them anymore.
  * Medda spoils him a lot as he's the youngest of her four children: Jack, Spot & Charlie, Felix.
  * Felix doesn't appear much in L2L as he doesn't often cross paths with the main characters.
  * Felix volunteers at the skate rink on Saturdays in order to earn free entry to the rink on Mondays.




	5. How Albert met Spot

*POV Spot*

"Uh, hi. I don't want my hair cut, but Medda says I have to. She booked an appointment for me."

"Hi Spot, I'm Albert. I get that you don't want your hair cut, although I can see why Murder, was it? wants you to get it done. How about you explain why you don't want it done?"

"It was MEdda, not MURder!" I laugh unintentionally. "Don't want it done because I's don't like hands by my head. Scares me."

"Okay, would it help if I showed you exactly what I'm going to do, using a mannequin head?" Wait, this (hot ginger) dude is willing to show me what he's gonna do? "Yeah, please. I don't want my hair too short."

"What do you want? Medda said she wanted you to be able to see, and the split ends trimmed."

"I _can_ see. The split ends don't bother me. Low maintenance, still showing my curls."

"How about a subtle fade? Here's some pictures." Albert finds some photos online, and that doesn't look too bad as a haircut. It might even suit me. What a laugh that was. "I guess. Show on mannequin." Albert slowly demonstrates on the mannequin, describing everything he's doing. I might be okay to come back to him when my hair gets too long for Medda. Despite the (reluctantly-brushed) curtain of curls that cover my eyes, I don't class this as too long - because it hides me from the world, and the world from me. "Ready to start?" Uh, no, never. I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for Medda. "Mhm." I sit as still as a deer in headlights and wait until he's done with the clippers. "All done. I won't ask if you like it, because I'm sure that haircuts-on-sufferance aren't something a person likes."

"Fair. Uh, how much do I owe you?"

"Nothin', I'm in hairdresser school, so this counts as work experience for me."

"Oh. I do like it though, can I always have you?"

"I guess, unless I move salons."

"Don't move, and I'll recommend you to all my broke student friends." I don't know what compelled me to say that, but okay, I guess.

"Awesome! See you in 6 weeks!"


	6. Race's siblings

Age at Race's birth:

Martina: 22

Porter: 17

Stephen: 15

Idina: 11

Alice: 9

Georgia: 7 

Race himself: Newborn

Age now:

Martina: 48

Porter: 43

Stephen: 41

Idina: 37

Alice: 35

Georgia: 33 

Race himself: 26

Personalities (brief) + job.

Martina: a charismatic leader with a short temper. Honorably discharged, then used the GI Bill to gain a degree in marketing. Works for Macy's department store, and therefore likes to see the Thanksgiving Day Parade from the bleachers. She uses a prosthetic leg.

Porter: a caring teamworker who primarily looked after Spot when Siobhain was deployed. Works in a military rehab facility. His major flaws are his impatience and inattentiveness. Race suspects that Porter is also ADD, although he has no diagnosis.

Stephen: Adaptable, works as a stage manager for the touring company of Tuck Everlasting. Enjoys a nomadic lifestyle, possibly due to the moves he used to have to do as a child. He is also quite resilient, and a perfectionist.

Idina: patient, shy, and softspoken, she works as a zookeeper.

Alice: charismatic, softspoken. She was jealous of the attention that Spot received when his mother was on deployment and therefore, tries to avoid him most of the time. She works as a chef on a cruise ship.

Georgia: hardworking but vain, she works as the head makeup coordinator for a film agency.

Race himself: if you haven't read L2L, go and read it, I don't have the energy to summarise him. Also, he's really complex because I write him a lot.


	7. Race's siblings (Part 2)

Physical appearances

Martina: Tall, lean, muscular, hair always neatly pulled back into a bun. Her clothing is inspired by the military, often involving trousers and a shirt.

Porter: Lean, average height, hair slightly long and worn messy. His clothing is best described as "floordrobe", generally consisting of pastel colours and soft fabric e.g. cotton.

Stephen: Muscular, average height, hair cut to number 3 all over. His clothing is all black, since he needs to blend in with the shadows where possible. He mostly wears Norfolk trousers, and plain black t-shirts. He has one or two pieces of 'not-black' clothing, although they're dark grey.

Idina: Tall, plump, usually wears promotional t-shirts for the zoo she works at when she's not in uniform, with dark jeans in either black or navy. Her 'chill-out' clothes are stripy tshirts and leggings. 

Alice: Average height, hair cut short and gelled up. She wears clashing patterns on purpose to garner attention, but makes sure they somewhat coordinate, e.g. purple paisley and pink polka dots.

Georgia: Purple hair, worn in an updo. She has a nose stud, and a single earring in her left ear. She mostly wears bright, bold clothing, lots of ripped jeans and flannel shirts.


	8. The Chair Incident

"Spot, please read the passage."

"I don't want to, sir, thank you."

"I wasn't asking a question. I was telling you politely to read the passage."

Under my breath, I whisper "Why? Everyone else is much better than me. Spider'll have a field day."

"Sean, we're all waiting. Do it."

In a moment of defiance, the heat of anger building behind my eyes, I shout "NO!"

"Yes, Conlon. Read it now please. And none of your guff about the letters not staying where they should."

"I SAID NO!"

"I SAID NOW! JUST DO IT SPOT!"

***

"Two weeks' suspension. You don't throw a chair at a teacher. Ever." Well, clearly I did, so what are you trying to say?

"Thank you, Principal Weisel. Sean, there will be _consequences_." Spider lays a strange emphasis on the consequences. I'll probably need my makeup kit when I finally go back to school. I can cope with that, I've been dealing with Snyder for the last couple years.

*Later*

Everything's hurting, but at least I told my classmates I play rugby. They think that's where the few bruises I keep visible come from. That way, I have a regular excuse for it. Mental body check: 1 black eye (a fight broke out on the pitch), several handshape bruises on my arms (it's winter anyway, so I'll wear a longsleeve), my stomach hurts and I think I might throw up (window open? yes. people below? no. okay, everything safe).

*2 weeks later*

I sit at my usual place, on the steps in the playground, staring at the clock as it counts down to my doom. 10 minutes of safety. 3 hours of frustration. An hour of safety. 3 hours of frustration. Then back to the Spider. There's a new kid by my space. "Who are you?" I demand, needing to categorise him into one of two boxes, marked "Safe" and "Dangerous". "David Jacobs. I'm new."


	9. Spot again - Angst

"Hey Spot, how are you? I noticed you've got a cast and crutches, what happened? Sorry if I'm being invasive, I really like you, as a friend I mean."

"Hi David. I'm fine, well, ish. I fell awkwardly from a tackle, and my leg took the brunt of it, so it broke." Did the lie work? I forced myself to read up on rugby and common injuries to be able to avoid awkward questions. I don't like Snyder, but at least he hasn't given me up yet, so clearly he must slightly-more-than-tolerate me. "Oh, okay. Can I sign your cast?" _"You're a failure, you have no friends"_ Snyder's voice floats into my head. Is taking the beating worth it to defy him and show him I have a friend? "Sure, as big as you can make it!" I don't care about the inevitable pain and attempted starvation, I still have three MREs kept under my bed - I checked this morning. David takes out a silver marker pen and writes _Your friend, David_ in handwriting awfully similar to my own.

*

"Spot, you're trying to make me believe you have friends by writing people's names on your cast. You don't have friends because you're a failure. You can barely read and write!" I don't flinch as Snyder gives me a black eye, several bruises on my ribs, and possibly sprains my wrist. I cocked up again. "You know what, Mr Snyder? You're right, I am a failure." I deserved this. How are you going to hide the injuries this time, Spot? Ribs are easy but painful, makeup on the eye, and a longsleeve despite the hot weather.


	10. Recovery book

"Hey, Mason. I thought you might like to see these photos of me as a child. At the risk of dating me, I got Davey to take them with his polaroid camera."

"Why are you showing me these? And why do you look like you're forcing a smile? Except this one, that's genuine. What changed?"

"This is hard for me, but Dr Darcy and Dr Fatica said that there was some damage already done to my leg before I broke it again. It was because of a guy called Snyder. I'm showing you these photos because Darcy said it might help me to process my emotions around this." No gasp of recognition at Spida's name, how the system has changed. Still, I continue. "I'm forcing a smile because in most of those photos, I'm hiding bruises under my shirt or trying not to let on how bad the pain is. That genuine smile is from the day I met Elmer. He started dating me first, then Albert broke up with his boyfriend Jack and I walked a mile in pouring rain to buy him necessary recovery items such as a pride t-shirt, but we didn't start dating until much, much later. Elmer and I started dating Race, that's the next genuine smile you'll find. Albert came in when I was about seventeen."

"Spot, how much of that was I meant to hear?"

"I hadn't realised you were still here, Dr Fatica."

"I only heard from you forcing a smile up until Albert coming in. I've just come off break."

"Are you comfortable with what you heard? I need to get more comfortable talking about my past, because it affects who I am as a person now."

"I'm frustrated that your guardian made you feel like you had to hide your injuries, but glad that I know these things, because it helps me to understand why you behave in certain ways."

"Like what?"

"Your utter refusal to believe you have bad days. It makes sense that if you were punished for being human, you'd be unwilling to admit it."

"Yeah, well, Snyder wouldn't let us stay off school ever."

*Spot is 11*

_"Hey Spot, did you hear what I said?"_

_"Somethin' 'bout your book"_

_"Not this time, are you okay Spot? You seem a bit out-of-it, and pale."_

_"M'fine David, keep your nose out of my beeswax."_

_"No. You're clearly not well!"_

_"Shh, don't shout! I need the grades!" Not to be valedictorian or anything as high as that, but to keep getting to go to Jack's art classes. They're the only thing that keep me sane(ish) in that hellish place called the Refuge Group Home. "Spot, please go home. You can always catch up on your grades later." Fat chance of going 'home' Davey, home is Fort Riley in Kansas, where Mam and Charlie and Race were. Mam ain't ever coming back though, so I'll never have a home. The Refuge certainly isn't home. It's yet another temporary house. A pain in my abdomen doubles me over, and I find a puddle of sick when I open my eyes. "Spot, you need to look after yourself. My medical textbook says that your appendix is on your right hand side, which is where you were clutching."_

_*Later*_

_"Peritonitis caused by a burst appendix, you're lucky we caught it before you died. We took your appendix out, so you've got bandages around your abdomen. Your father said you couldn't eat, so we've put an NG tube in to give you food through."_

_"¡No es mi padre! ¡Está mi padre adoptivo! No es un estado de permanecía."_

_"Anyone speak Spanish? I know you understand me Spot, because you reacted to something I said. Do you speak English?"_

_"Sí, hablo English. Yes."_

_"Did the anaesthetic - sleepy medicine - make you speak Spanish?"_

_"S'easier."_

_"Okay, what did you react to?"_

_"Father. He ain't my father. He's only fostering me."_


	11. Childhood soundtracks for each principal character

Mason: his style is the easiest to describe, it can be summed up as showtunes. His favorite albums are Everybody's Talking About Jamie, Hamilton, and The Lightning Thief.

Spot: early 2000s music, especially after his stay in the juvenile detention center. His favorite track was Teenagers, because it confirmed his feelings of failure to him, but now, it's The Middle because it was the first song that Medda played to him when she realised that he struggles to feel good enough.

Elmer: He listens to the radio and likes a lot of pop music. His favorite band is The Beatles, and his favorite track Eleanor Rigby. He likes BBC World Service to fall asleep to after a night shift.

Race: Broadway, but only if it's "good" Broadway. What he means by this is he can sing along to it and dance to it, so &Juliet is his favorite show album at the moment, closely followed by ETAJ. He also enjoys La Bohème.

Albert: hip hop, Latin pop, boleros


	12. Martina

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: injury, hospitals  
> As usual, tell me if you need more info/other TWs to be added.

"Hi Stephen. I'm in hospital, injured. I can't return to the army. You look after the kids, _especially_ Sean. I have to go in two minutes."

"Ok. You'll be alright?"

"Yeah. I'm fine. Unit's on blackout. No telling anyone else what happened, okay?"

"Yeah. Bye-bye."

"Bye-bye."

*

"KIDS!" A pattering of little feet on the stairs. "Marty just called. She's in hospital, so shall we make her a big miss-you card?"

"Yeah! And Sean too?"

"If he wants. You go and see him."

*

"Why d'you have a robot leg?"

"I don't want to talk about it, Race. We'll be moving to civilian housing now."

"Where? What state or country now?"

"USA, and Vermont. We'll be right on the New York border."

"Ok. Can I go say bye to Sean?"

"Sure, you've got about an hour until we're packed up and ready to go."

"Okay! BYE!"


	13. List of Birthdays for the characters

Dates are in UK format.

**January**

1st - Elmer

19th - Mason

**February**

**March**

29th - Albert

**April**

7th - Felix

**May**

11th - Medda

**June**

18th - Jason (Kath and Sarah's kid)

**July**

1st - Katherine

**August**

4th - Race

**September**

30th - Pam

**October**

8th - Jack

31st - Merida

**November**

16th - Charlie, Spot (Charlie is the older by 2 minutes)

**December**

12th - Sarah, Davey (Sarah is the older by 10 minutes)


	14. Martina takes Spot swimming

"Got permission for a sleepover?"

"Yeah! Go to the pool?"

"Sure, buddy. You need any help?"

"Nah, I's a big boy!"

"Yeah, you are, but big boys sometimes need help too." I try to provide Sean with counterarguments to the things I know Jason tells him, but I don't know how well that works. "Marty, no they don't. I'm a big boy like Sean, bigger even!"

"You're both big boys, and you can both need help sometimes. Anyway, pool then café, yeah?"

"Yeah!"

*

"Good time in the pool?"

"Yeah! My hair's all frizzy now."

"I'll wash it when we get home, okay?"

"Ta, Mamma Two." I have no words. Mamma Two. I squeeze him tight, but he pulls away. "Ouch. No touch, it hurts."

"Where? Can you show me?"

"Back, here. Swish swish. Ouch."

"Race, can you meet us in the car?"

"Okay, Marty."

*

"Sean, when you said 'swish swish ouch', did you mean that Jason hit you?"

"Yeah. I'm a bad kid."

"You **are not** a bad kid, Sean. What did he use?"

"Slipper. It's not too bad."

"I'll see if I can stop him for you." Poor kid, he doesn't deserve this. Nobody ever does.


End file.
